This graph shows the changes in the number of children living with divorced mothers and fathers from 1960-2011. The data are provided in “thousands” In 1960, 1,210,000 (1.2 million) children were living with their divorced mothers. This number grew until the early 1990s almost 6 million children in 1999 and has declined or leveled off for the past decade. In 2011 5,508,000 children lived with their divorced mothers.

The number of children living with divorced fathers is much smaller, but has been increasing over the past 50 years. In 1960, only 129,000 children were living with their divorced fathers. This number of children living with divorced fathers peaked in 2006 at 1,495,000 (1.49 million) children and has been declining since then. In 2011 1,238,000 (1.23 million) children lived with their divorced fathers.

These data are provided by the US Census Bureau. The original data are provided at this link.